Reviewed: Mercedes-Benz CLS350

Think four-door luxury cars and space and grace will likely be headline discussion points. But when the original Mercedes-Benz CLS arrived here in 2005, it had the low-slung silhouette of a two-door, albeit with the practicality of four doors.

It was the sort of thing that didn't make sense on paper, because it cost more and you got less - less metal, at least. But that overlooked the emotional appeal of a car that sold more on style than space, something competitors took note of.

The second-generation CLS treads a familiar path, although these days it has more direct competitors, such as Audi's A7. The sales pitch is the same: it's a four-door for those who don't need to regularly carry adults in the rear. That means you forgo the space of the E-Class it shares mechanicals with for a more stylish profile.

With the new model, some of the svelte design of the original has made way for a US-inspired aggression that leads to the bigger, blunter nose and over-styled rear wheel arches.